Guest Speaker Discusses Cyber Dominance on the Battlefield

The chapter is proud to have hosted Lt. Gen. Dennis A. Crall, USMC, as the guest speaker for our November virtual luncheon event. Gen. Crall currently serves as the director for Command, Control, Communications and Computers, cyber and chief information officer, Joint Staff, J-6. Prior to joining the J-6, Gen. Crall served as the deputy principal cyber advisor, senior military advisor for cyber policy; and director, Command, Control, Communications, Computers (C4), Headquarters Marine Corps, and chief information officer (CIO) of the Marine Corps.

Gen. Crall specifically discussed Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) and cyber dominance on the battlefield. Specifically, JADC2 focuses on locating all networked devices on the battlefield, analyzing the vast amount of data collected and then rapidly pushing the information to the warfighter. Currently, the JADC2 effort is about 80 percent complete, and the remaining focus is finalizing lexicon and definitions to ensure uniformity. According to Gen. Crall, "... the JADC2 is a combined effort across the services. Things must be interoperable.'

Due to these current and upcoming modernization efforts, the networks are "under stress" and need to be addressed. For industry, the Marines need help in understanding how to leverage emerging open-source technologies and implementing standards to test these new technologies with "quick fix" methodologies. These modernization efforts are real, supported by Congress, and face no headwinds.

The chapter recognized Kaitlin Bulavinetz, chapter president, Young AFCEANs, as the Young AFCEAN of the month. Kaitlin has been instrumental in shifting Young AFCEAN events to a virtual environment and increasing the young AFCEAN member base. Her leadership through COVID-19 is a testament to her leadership and commitment to AFCEA. The chapter recognized Sentek Global as Sponsor of the Month for their continuous support of AFCEA NOVA. Sentek Global is an industry leader in cybersecurity for the U.S. government.

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